Filling-replenishing feeler-loom.



A. E. RHOADES. FILLING REPLENISHING FEELER LOOM.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 9, 1911.

' Patnted Mar.5, 1912.

2 SHEBTS- SHEET 1.

I 4 jvz/evff Q I 1% J 4%, lwu gmz 3% A.E..RHOADES. FILLING REPLENIS HINGFEELEgLOOM.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 9, 1911. I 1,019,279, Patented Mar.5, 1912.

N D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALONZO E. RHOAIDE-S, or nornnALE, MASSACHUSETTS, Assienon T0 DRAPER com-1 PANY, or HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A'CORPORATION or MAINE.

. FILLI G-REPLE ISHING FEELER-11OOM.

To all 'wlwm'z't may concern: v

Be it known that I, ALONZO E. RHQADES, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Hop'edale, county of \Vorcester, State of Massachusetts,have invented an Improvement in I illing-Replenishing Feeler-Looms, ofwhich the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, is a'specification,'like letters on the drawing repre "ntinglike parts. v This invention relates to looms of the type wherein thefilling in the working shuttle is replenished automatically from time totime by or through the instrumentality of feeler mechanism whichintermitti'ngly cooperates with and detern'iines the volume of fillingin the shuttle and causes-the replenishment of filling when the workingshuttle is substantially exhausted.

supply in the In' 'United States Patent No. 640,866

' granted-; lpril -3, 190(l to Northrop. a loom of this type] isshown,

the feeler mechanism being constructed and arrangedto detect apredetermined degree of exhaustion or diminution of the volume offilling in the shuttle "by or through the diameter of thefilling massthe operative movement of the feeler proper being .efi'ected by orthrough the shuttle as it-entersthe shuttle-box.

My present invention has provision for detecting a' predetermined degreeof exhaustion or diminution of the volume of the lilling in the shuttleby or through the diameter of the yarn mass, in the shuttle, but theoperation of the feeler proper, and the feeler mechanism as a whole, isgoverned or controlled. by means wholly independent of the shuttle, andthe various novel features of my 'a portion of an automatic fillingreplenish- 7 tion- 'of;. the .feeler mechanism; a

present invention will be fully described in the subjoined specificationand particularly pointed out in the following claims.

Figure 1 is a left hand side elevation of ing loom of the Northrop typewith one form of my present invention embodied therein, the nearer endof the lay, its shuttle-box, and shuttle therein being shown in section;Fig.2 is a top plan view of the mechanism at the left hand side of theloom shown in Fig. 1 and. i'nthe same relative positions as'thereinillustrated; Fig. 3 is a' front elevation of the left hand end of thelay with the feeling shuttle-box and a por- Fig.- 4 is a similar view ofsome of the parts shown in as in la tent Xo.

Patented Mar. 5,191 Serial No. 01,680. u

Fig. 3, but with the feeler and its carriers. in'fully retractedposit-ion.

As willappear by detailed description." hereinafter the feeler ismounted. upon; a support or carrier pivotally connected with .60 I thelay, and the movement of the feeler t0.- ward'and away from the fillingin the shut-=- tle is governed by an actuator in sliding 00-. operationwith the carrier, said actuator .be-l,

mg mmed Positiwly nd intermitti gly byflcs-c suitable means having aproperly timed opeeration relative to other working parts of the loom,more particularly the shuttle and I the lay. .The lay A, the shuttle-boxB at the left 1704'2 hand end thereof, the breast-beam 0 having thenotched holding-plate D for the ship-=1" per E, the main or cam shaft F,Fig.1, and crank-shaft G, and thc rock-shaftH by 01' I I through whichthe actuation of the filling''-" replenishing mechanism is elfected,maybe and are all of well known construction and f substantially as in'the Northrop patent re- *f ferred to, the controlling rock-shaft H beingthe only featureot' the replenishing mocha-"8 nism necessary toillustrate herein. The automatically self-threading shuttle I adapted toreceive and hold a filling-car?" rier or bobbin J may be of any suitablecharactcr comn'ionly used in automatic re 35 plcnishing looms oi theNorthrop type, exccpt that, unlike the shuttles used in ordi nary tcelcrlooms, no slot or opening in the side wall'of-the shuttle is necessaryin my present invention. In Fig. 2 is shown a rocking transmitter Kfulcrumed at L and adapted to effect. the coripcration of a vibrator,such as the i \\'cit-hamn'|er rocleshaft ll is to beturned,substantially; 95.3

789,471 granted 'May I 1905 to Wood and Northrop, the outer end of thetransmitter having a cam extension 0. i

with which cot'q'mi-ates a horizontally-swing I ing controller 1fulcrumed on the ,plateD- at Q. The controller has a' guard R whichoven-hangs the cam extension P and the controller moves between theextension and the guard, the frontward swing of. said Conn troller,against its retracting spring S, acting upon the transmitter K toelevate its inner end and place the latch Nin position to cooperatewiththe weft-hammerM. .At z its outer end the controller carries an upright,headed stud T on which is pivoted a M, with'a. latch N when the 7:15-

rearwardly extended and upwardly bent dog U having its rear endlaterally widened at V, a spring W normally acting to hold the dog inthe position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 against the stop-pin X on thecontroller, the articulation of the dog and controller providing forease of movement whenby means to be described the dog isengaged andmoved frontw'ard to efi'ect the operative movement of the controller andthe transmitter K.

Referring now'to Figs. 1 and 2 the'coverplate 1 of the shuttle-box B isprovided near.

its inner end withan upright ear havin a transverse bearing 2' for afulcrum stu 3 fixedlyattached to an arm 4 forming one member of atwo-part feeler carrier, :1 secondarm 5 constituting the other member,the stud rocking in the bearing and being held therein by a cotter-pin 6or other suitable 'device. shaped longitudinally, see Fig.1 3, an outerend is providedwith a cam-slot'7, a frontwardly extended, headed stud 8being fixedly mounted on the outer end of the said member beyond thecam-slot, and u on said stud is fulcrumed the second mem er 5 of thecarrier. v

As shown in Fig. 2 the members 4, 5 are 80 parallel to each other and'tothe path of the shuttle across-the lay, the studs 3 and 8 being at rightangles thereto and both above the shuttle-box, the parts being sodisposed that the carrier member 5 is always posi 85 'tioned over theopen top of the shuttle-box 13 about midway between its ends.

- .A. spring 9 is attached at one end to the member 5 and at its otherend the springis fixed to the head of stud 8, the spring being 40 coiledaround the stud between its head and the front face of the member 5, seeFig. 2, the winding ofthe spring being such that when free to act itdepresses the member 5 upon a lateral shelf or stop 10 projecting fromthe outer end of the inner member 4,

as shown in Fig. 4. The inner end of memher 5 has a'lug-ll dependingtherefrom to .engage theinner end of thestop 10 and limit the upwardswing of said member on the fulcrum stud 8 when the feeler contacts witha full or nearly full bobbin in the shuttle. The member 5 is alsoprovided with an inwardly extended perforated ear 1 12, and the member 4adjacent said ear has a hole 13, Fig. 4, the purpose of which will bereferred to.

Herein I have shown the feeler proper as integral with the member 5,,andto this end the outer end of said member is downturned at 14, Figs. 1, 3and 4 and is shaped to present a yoke-like. feeler 15 shaped like amin-'verted U, the depending legs thereof being adapted to engage thefilling Y on the bob bin at points equidistant from the longitudinalaxis of the latter, see Fig. 1, when the The member 4 .is slightly V-its feeler 15 to position the hunter substantially feeling stroke or.movement is imparted to the feeler. In other words the feeler 15de--tects a predetermined degree of exhaustion or diminution of the volumeof filling in the shuttle by or through. the diameter of the yarn mass,the effective distance between the legs of the feelerbeing determinedbeforehand so that the downward or-feeling stroke of said feeler isnever completed untilthe diameter of the yam-mass on the bobbin is lessthan the distance between'-. the feeler legs, and when this conditionofaffairs is present the full downward stroke of the feelerisaccomplished. Y

It may be stated here that the carrier member 4 has a-constant stroke,but by reason of't-he gradual diminution of the filling 1n the shuttlethe downward stroke of-the member 5 gradually increases up to the fullstroke, the member 5 swinging on it's fulcrum 8 relative to member4-while also hav-' mg a bodily movement with said member 4 about thefulcrum 3. The spring 9, which is a light one, resists the relativemovement of the two members and acts to place them in the relativeposition shown in Fig. 4 0113;; everyupward or retracting stroke Qf thecarrier about its fulcrum 3. As shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 the dependinglegs of the feeler-are quite broad, so that the filling-contacting edgesthereof are long enough to engage a considerableiportion of the fillingeach time the feeler is caused to contact. therewith, thus distributingthe strain of impact upon the yarn and preventing injury thereto. 4

A frontwardly' extended; bunter 16 is fixedly attached at 17 to thismember 5 of. the carrier, at a pointopposite the widened end V of thedog'U, butthe bunter is not permitted to engage said do until the'predetermined'exhaustion of. 51s filling-- ermits a sufiicient downwardmovement-o the on a level with the dog. 11o

Referring now to Fig. l the loom side has mounted upon it'back'of thelaya bracket 18 having a horizontal stud 19 on which is ful'crumed theactuator 20 for the feelercarrier, said actuator being shown as apreferably round and rigid bar longitudinally curved and extended overthe lay transversely thereto, and passing through the cam-slot 7 of thecarrier member 4. Saidactuator is of such length that it extends throughsaid slot in all positions of the lay, so th t there is a sliding enagement between the actuator and the' eeler-carrier and the latter isthereby continuously controlled or governed by said actuator.

A rearward extension 21 of. the actuator is pivotally connected at 22with a depending link 23 provided'with a roller or other suitable stud24 which coiiperates with the groove in a cam25 fast on the shaft F, a 9

1,oio,279 8 short radius arm 26 being pivotally connected at one endwith the link and at its other end being fulcrumed at 27 on a stand 28mounted on the loom side. The radius bar prevents improper swingingmovement of the link 23 while permitting it to. rise and fall as the cam25 re-' volves,'to effect the positive and intermittent oscillation ofthe actuator 20, and pref- .merably'the link is made in two parts, as

shown, for longitudinal adjustment, a common form of construction.

As the shaft F makes one revolution for every two revolutions of thecrank-shaft G the groove of the cam 25 is laid out to present a longcircular or dwell portion from '29 to 30, (reading opposite to thedirection of rotation indicated by arrow 50) equal to aboutthree-fourths of a revolution of the cam, and with a gradual but ratherrapid rise from 30to the high point 31, and a somewhat more rapid dropfrom such high point to the beginning of the dwell at 29.

\Vhenjhe follower 24 is traversing the dwell port-ionof the cam the layswings back, forward, and back while the actuator 20 is quiescent at:itshighest position, and

preferably the curve of the actuator is at this time an arc whose'center is coincident with the lay rocker-shaft, and during such time theshuttle has been picked to the right, the filling has been beaten in,and the shuttle has been picked to the left, to box 15, on the secondbackward swing of the lay in readiness for the feeler to act. Now, asthe lay is moving forward, Fig. 1,'with the shuttle in ,the left-handbox B thelpart 30 to 31 of the' cam operates through the follcwcrand thelink 23 to quickly depress the Q10 actuator-20, and consequently thetwo-part feeler carrier-is swung downward on its fulcrum as the laymoves toward front center. If there is sufficient filling present tostop the feeler 15 in its downward movement the jointed carrier is 5broken at the pivot stud 8, while the member 4 completes its full downstroke, such a condition bein shown in Fig. 3, and as the feeler isarrestefl by'the filling the hunter 16 will be moved forward with thelay in a path above the (log T The follower roll 24, after passing "thehigh point 31 of the cam, is quickly depressed by the cam portionbetween 3l'and 2!), Fig. 1, the dipping movement of the actuator and thefeeler carrier being completed before the shuttle is picked from the boxB after the beat-up is completed, but the rise of the feeler carrierdoes not occur until the hunter 16 has had an 'opportunity to engage andpush the dog U frontwardas the lay moves toward front center.- Now letit be supposed that the filling has been diminished -'o such an extentthat the diameter thereof is just small enough to permit 5 the feeler 15to pass downward at opposite sides of the bobbin. When the previouslydescribed depression of the actuator is effected thefeeler carrier willswing'downward and as the filling offers no obstacle to the feeler 15the latterwvill descend its full distance, thetwo members-4: and '5ofthe carrier moving down together without any relative movement, andthe hunter 16 will be moved down therewith so that as the lay beats upthe dog U will be engaged by'the hunter and pushed forward before thepart 31, 29 of the cam comes into action. Such forward movement of thedog is communicated to the controller 1* and the latter in turn actsupon the cam-extensionO and rocks the transmitter K, positioning thelatch N for engagement by the weft-hammer M, which at this time ismoving forward. T hereupon the rock-shaft H will be turned and theoperation of the 'replcnish- 35 ing mechanism will'be' effected when theshuttle I is in the right hand shuttle-box,

in amanner familiar to those skilled in the art. \Vhen the describedcooperation of the hunter and the dog .is effected the parts remain inengagement only long enough to provide for the proper movement of thecontroller 1?, and the part 31, 29 of'cam 25 acts to elevate the feelercarrier audits adjuncts before the shuttle is picked from'the box B.

It is sometimes desirable to throw the feeler mechanism out-of operationwithout disturbing the other parts of the loom, and.

to do this all that is necessary is to swing up the carrier member 5until the perforation in its car 12 registers with the hole 13 in member4, and a pin is pushed into. thev registering apertures, holding themember ,5 up far enoughto prevent any operativej engagement of thefeeler 15 with the filling. From the foregoing description it will beapparent that the operation of the feeler mechanism is effected whollyindependent of the shuttle, the intermittent movement of the feeler intoand out of the shuttle being effected positively on every alternate ick,and as the spring controlling the jomted, feeler carrier is of low powerthe feelin action is delicate and has notendency to 11. damage thefilling.

Various changes or modifications of different features of constructionand-arrangement may be made by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of my invention asset forth in theannexed claims. I

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is: x 125.

e 1. In a loom, a lay, a rocking carrier mounted thereon, a feelerconnected with said carrier, to detect, by or through its diameter, apredetermined diminution Oflthe. volume of filling in the shuttle, anactuator 13.0

' mounted independently of the lay and sliding engagement with thecarrier, a cam.

to, move said actuator intermittingly and thereby rock the carrier toeffect the'teeling operation of said feeler, and yielding means topermit stoppage of the feel'er on its active stroke prior to substantialexhaustionof the filling. a

2. In a loom, in combination, a lay, a feeler carrier pivotally mountedthereon transversely to the shuttle path,a depending feeler mounted onsaid carrier and adapted to engage intermittingly the filling in theshuttle to'det ect a predetermined diminution of the volume thereof, arocking actuator having a stationary fulcrum and extended across thelay, said-actuator in slid mg engagement with the carrier, means tooscillate said actuator on alternate picks, to

'thereby move the feeler into and out of feelrelative mg position, andmeans, governed by said feeler when the filling is exhausted to apredetermined extent, to effect a change in'the operation of the loom.

3. In a loom, in combination, a lay having a shuttle-box, atwo-part-feeler carrier comprising a member fulcrumed on the layadjacent the shuttle-box, and a second member 'pivotally -1r.onnectedwith the first-named member, a spring normally acting to preventrelative movement of said members, afeeler mounted on the second member,an actuator 4. In a loom, in combination, a lay having a shuttle-box, afceler carriorcomprising an inner arm fulcrumed on the lay adjacent theshuttle-box and an outer arm pivoted on said first arm and having at itsouter end 21 depending feeler, m'eansto rock the inner ar positively andintermittingl m t? V constant stroke, a yielding connection be-fi tweensaid arms, whereby the outer ari n will?- move relatively to the innerarm when the feeler contacts with the filling prior to predeterminedexhaustion thereof, and -me2ins actuated by or through thefeeler on theforward beat of the lay when predetermined filling exhaustion isreached, to effect a change in the operation of the loom.

5. ha loom, a lay, a teeleija rocking, two-part jointed carrier thereforfulcrumed on the lay, an actuator slidably connected with said carrierto impart a constant, posi-' tive oscillationto one part thereof atevery alternate pick, a spring to' prevent relative movement of thecarrier parts when sub-' stantial filling exhaustion is reached, andmeans to oscillate said actuator and move the feeler into and out ofcontact with the filling in theshuttle on alternate picks.

6. In a loom, a, lay having a shuttle-box,

a ointed feelefi carrier fulcrumed at its inner end on the lay adjaoentthe shuttle-boiqa' calipering feeler mounted on the outer end" of thecarrier, to intermittingly .engage the. filling in the shuttle, anactuator fulcrumed behind the lay and in continuous-sliding engagementwith the carrier, means to oscillate said actuator positively and atregular'lntervals, to impart an intermittent rocking;

movement to the feeler and its carrier, and

a spring controlling relative movement of the parts of said jointedcarrier according the volume-of filling'in the shuttle. In testimonywhereof, I have signedmy name tothis specification, in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses,"

- ALONZO E. RHOADES Witnesses:

ROBERT J AMIESON, I E. D. Osooon.

